Ground Zero Mosque Hits Raw Nerve

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 8, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

           Sept. 11 gave American Muslims a painful black eye from “guilt by association,” despite the fact law-abiding Muslims had nothing to do with radical Islam.  Osama bin Laden’s longstanding vendetta with the U.S. stemmed from his 10-year association with the CIA during the first Afghan War.  U.S. officials, under the late president Ronald Reagan, paid Bin Laden billions to fight the Soviets, eventually driving them out of Afghanistan Feb. 15, 1989.  Bin Laden’s shenanigans date back to the botched 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.  His 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa and 2000 suicide bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, ongoing operation in East Africa, 2004 Madrid train station blasts, 2005 London Tube attack, all show radical Islam’s criminal activities.  Recent attempts to build a mosque two blocks from “Ground Zero” has met stiff opposition.

            Opposition groups plead that it’s an insult to consider building a 13-story, $100 million Saudi-funded Islamic cultural center and mosque only two blocks from Ground Zero.  Families of first-responders begged New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to stop the project claiming it insulted the memories of the 2,976 dead and 6,000 injured from Bin Laden’s brazen assault on America.  Bin Laden, of course, doesn’t represent the Muslim religion but 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia and all were Sunni Muslims.  On June 6, the New York City Planning Commission refused to deny permission for the mammoth lower Manhattan building project.  “We would betray our values if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else,” said Bloomberg, defending the builder’s rights.  Bloomberg isn’t that oblivious to the symbolism that irks victims’ families.

            No one really knows the extent of the business deal promised by the Saudis to New York City.  Major construction projects bring employment and cash to the otherwise cash-strapped Big Apple.  “The attack was an act of war—and our first responders defended not only our city but also our country and our Constitution,” said Bloomberg, expressing his support of the mosque project.  Manhattan residents support the mosque construction 46%-36%, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.  “New Yorkers as a whole weighed in against the mosque, with 52 percent opposing the plans and just 31% supporting the projects,” according to the same poll.  Common sense tells you that Bloomberg fights a losing battle convincing most New Yorkers that building a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero is a good thing.  Constitutional rights aside, Bloomberg has no common sense.

            Before the project gets the green light, Bloomberg must disclose the financial arrangements to the city.  Everyone knows that New York State and the city are running big deficits perhaps giving added incentive.  Constitutional rights have nothing to do with dishonoring the dead and offending the families and survivors of Sept. 11.  Meanwhile, in the sleepy suburb of Murfreesboro near Nashville, Tenn., the Saudis are also planning on building an Islamic cultural center on a 15-acre site.  Local residents fear that the center will turn into a terrorist base in the Deep South.  “They are not a religion.  They are a political, militaristic group,” said 76-year-old local Bob Shelton, a protestor reflecting growing opposition to the mosque construction project.  “Not Welcome,” was spray-painted on the nearby construction site, hinting that vigilantes could take the law into their own hands

            While Islam only represents one percent of American religious institutions, it is the world’s fastest growing religions.  Islam has a rich history in the African American community dating back to 1930.  It was in Detroit, Michigan where Wallace D. Fard Muhammad founded the Nation of Islam church, out of protest for the long history of racial discrimination faced by blacks in mainstream white Christian churches.  In forming NOI, Muhammed sought to give blacks a religion with their own African American identity. When Muhammad died in 1935, he passed the torch to his disciple Elijah Muhammed who moved the church to Chicago and ran it until his death in 1975.  His follower, Malcom X, born Malcom Little May 19, 1925, became a key figure in the black militant movement, gunned down by NOI rebels Feb. 21, 1965.  His martyrdom spurred much of the modern civil rights movement 

Since 1978, Minister Louis Farrakhan has headed the reconstituted NOI church, continuing Malxom X’s tradition of fiery rhetoric.  He’s been criticized for his anti-Semitic remarks but continues Elijah Muhammad’s tradition of a prideful African American religious identity.  Today’s backlash against Islam stems from Sept. 11’s renegade band of terrorists claiming ownership of Islam but, in reality, represent only outlaws and desperados living on the fanatical fringe.  Objections to the Saudi-funded mosque are understandable only two blocks from Ground Zero.  Regardless of the logic, politicians like Bloomberg must show more sensitivity given the sacrifices by first-responders to the nightmare of Sept. 11.  As for the growth of Islam around the states, local groups must remind themselves—as Bloomberg points out—about the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

About the Author    

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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